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N .SAFE‘. AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: The Lost Art of Handwashing Despite the incredible advancement of technology that characterizes our mod- em day society. there is still one thing that stands out as the most effective method of infection control ever devised, Since the days of blood-letting and leeehing. old-fashioned handwashing has been discovered to be the single most important method of prevention and control. Yet. in the United States, the Centres of Disease Control in Atlanta determined infec- tions acquired during hospitalization will .affeet more than two million people and 20,000 of them will die â€" every year. More than a third of those infections can be pre- vented without sophisticated technology. simply by proper handwashing following contact with each patient. At home. on the job. at school, in restauâ€" rants. that philosophy holds true as well. "Wash your hands after you use the toilet. Wash your hands before dinner. Wash your hands after you sneeze. Don't put y0ur fin- gers in your mouth." - These and other lessons ring in our ears in a voice that sounds suspiciously like mom’s. But fewer of us are listening to that voice. In the twelve years from 1980 to 1992, there was a 58 percent increase in infectious diseases, and infec- tious diseases rose from fifth to the third leading killer. Hands come into contact with millions of organisms in a day. many of them with the potential for infection. “If people increase the number of times they wash their hands. they can definitely decrease the number of infections they get." says Jane Tooze, Direc- tor oflnfection Control at the Ajax-Pickering General Hospital. “The hands are what carry the germs; to prevent colds, wash your hands." This becomes even more important in ar- eas where there are many people and the potential for transmission is greater, such as in daycare centres or where food is being prepared for the consumption of others. It sounds simple. And it is. There are two types of organisms found on the skin; resident and transient. Resident organisms live on me skin, growing and mul- Your health is in your hands â€" literally. tiplying but rarely causing infections... They generally require oxygen to survive and are not easily washed off. Transient organisms are the opposite. They survive less than 24 hours on the skin. can easily be removed by scrubbing and cannot survive long in the presence of oxygen. It is these organisms which can readily cause in- fection in the body if not washed away through vigorous hand washing. “The keys to good hand washing are an adequate amount of soap, good friction and running water,” says Tooze. "Do not use too much soap. One pump of soap is usually plenty. Bar soap went out along time ago. It tends to sit and develop a scum where it can grow bacteria." Even when using liquid soap. be aware that topping up acontuiner is not a good idea unless the dispenser is com- pletely emptied, cleaned out and then refilled. Better still, buy a new one, Tooze suggests. This afllL‘lE was exrracted in part from "The lust arr uf humiwurhing” primed in Tliir Week, Sunday Edition, Sunday, October-27. [996. by Deb BIJlelE. WI Special Exhibit at the Wellington Co. Museum Members from this District gathered a! [he Wellington County Museum {be- tween Fergus and flora) for the opening of a special exhibit honouring the achievements 0! (he Woman's Institutes. “I read Linda Ambross's new book twice,” said Curator Susan Dunlap. “l was amazed at the invoivemenl of the Wls who worked so hard to improve our communities, rmpro vemenrs that l had taken lar granted. Not any more. [know that this Museum and ii: collections were begun because 0/ the diligence and fund raising of the County Women '5 Institutes.” One gallery is set up as a 1910 Institute meeting in a rural dinrng room,- the Women” (mannequins) are laamr‘ng about proper housekeeping methods. Mary Atlrln, Wellington Centre District President, is pictured at left in the gallery among “the ladies. ' Anotfrorgallery is filled with photographs and memorabilia, which locus on ma beginnings. the war effort in WW1 and WWII, the Institutes as social nylonan and fund raise-rs. and how the WI has reached out beyond our barriers. Submitted by Susan Dunlap. Curator, Wellington County Museum. Home 8- Country. Spring 1997 I1